Pandemic Internet Aid Is Ending, But Digital Divide Remains

Several of the internet discount programs from the Keep Americans Connected pledge are set to end in the coming weeks — a looming expiration that, if left unaddressed, threatens to unravel a precarious thread of the social safety net at a particularly difficult time for many American families. Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, said that although the school year is winding down, the need for access to the web — and the challenge of affording it — have not gone away. The industry’s charitable internet programs have been helpful, said Siefer, but ultimately amounted to a temporary “Band-Aid” on the still-gaping digital divide. “We had this problem pre-Covid,” Siefer said. “All Covid did was draw attention to it because of online learning. We have to come up with a substantial, long-term solution.” On June 19, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai asked Congress for legislation to help consumers and small businesses keep their internet connections beyond June 30. Chairman Pai said he’d also asked companies to offer customers who are struggling financially due to the pandemic more flexible payment options, and to continue and expand their free-internet programs for students.